The Haines Borough Planning Commission voted to notify more neighbors when development projects are being planned.
Households within 500 feet of a proposed variance, conditional use or rezoning site will now get advanced notice in response to backlash from recent appeals of a rock-hauling operation near Young Road.
Borough planner Holly Smith recommended the change, saying at the April 13 meeting she thought it was a good response to the criticism she received last month that households near the Young Road work site were not notified of the conditional use permit application.
“I had a lot of criticism about the Schnabel permit when the notices went out. I did try to go beyond the 200 feet that’s allowed in code…,” Smith said. “There’s a lot of people out of town over the winter, and they don’t see the paper and they can’t come to the meeting.”
But some commissioners thought more notification may cause unnecessary clamor or be a burden to borough staff.
“Haines probably has an undue amount of people who really like to be involved in other people’s business,” said commissioner Larry Geise. “If you stretch out that 500 feet on some of these small lots, you’re talking people that are six and seven blocks away from somebody who wants to do something.”
He added that it would be a lot of work for Smith to notify that many people, though Smith later said it would not take much more of her time. “Is it the borough’s responsibility to track down every person who thinks they might want to be involved?” Geise asked.
Commissioner Brenda Josephson agreed, saying, “When people don’t live here in the winter, it’s still their responsibility to stay informed.”
Commissioner Donnie Turner suggested leaving the code at 200 feet, but borough staff could choose to notify more people on a case-by-case basis. The 200-foot public notice area is only a minimum requirement in code.
Heather Lende, assembly liaison to the commission, said leaving notification up to the discretion of staff could lead to complaints of inconsistency between conditional use permits. Keeping code specific could prevent a future appeal, she said.
“In a case like this, it would seem to me it would be better to err on the side of telling too many people than not telling enough and having it blow up in your face,” said commissioner Lee Heinmiller.
Commissioner Jeremy Stephens said even if the code is changed, borough staff will “probably still have the same issues next time.”
“Increasing this, it’s not going to solve all our problems, but I don’t think it’s going to create new ones,” planner Smith said.
The commission voted 5-2 to expand the public notice area to 500 feet, with Josephson and Geise dissenting. The topic will come back to the planning commission for a public hearing.